DUST IN THE WIND
Riders concerned over air quality from L train tunnel construction MTA tells straphangers: You have nothing to worry about
Construction dust containing silica particles floats in the air at the Bedford Ave. subway station on the L train, MTA tests found last week — but agency officials say the levels are too low to be dangerous.
Last week the agency brought in a contractor to analyze the air quality at Bedford Ave. after riders complained of dust kicked up by weekend construction, according to documents obtained by the Daily News.
The examination showed there to be 9.4 micrograms of silica per cubic meter of air — three times as much as what people breathe outside.
That’s a lot less than federal rules which say workers should not be exposed to air containing 50 micrograms of silica per cubic meter. Exposure to more than that over an eight-hour day over a number of years might be dangerous, the government says.
"There is absolutely no reason to suggest any health issues or concern," the MTA said in a statement.
The dust, which can damage the lungs when inhaled at high concentrations, is kicked up when crews perform such work as drilling holes into walls.
The MTA is finishing up a major project at Bedford Ave. that includes a new mezzanine, new staircases and an elevator. The work is to be finished before the longplanned overhaul of the Canarsie Tunnel, which carries the L train between Manhattan and Brooklyn and was damaged in 2012 during Hurricane Sandy.
Andrew Albert, the riders’ advocate on the MTA board, said the low level of silica generated by the Bedford Ave. work is an indicator that the MTA will have to be careful about the dust kicked up by the Canarsie Tunnel repairs.
The work now being done at the station is “instructive,” Albert said. He added: “Apparently, even just in station
work we have this level of dust.”
Though the MTA denies any danger, MTA workers and cops have been wearing masks at the Bedford Ave. stop. The dust was concerning enough that Transport Workers Union Local 100 officers temporarily pulled five workers from the station platform Monday morning until they could get them masks.
Silica dust in L stations and tunnels has been a major talking point for advocates and riders ever since early January, when Gov. Cuomo canceled the planned 15month shutdown of the line that was meant to allow a major overhaul of the tunnels.
Instead, Cuomo favors a less-disruptive strategy for the repairs that will only shut the line on nights and weekends.
Albert wants the MTA to bring in an independent monitor to assess the air quality in stations across the L line during construction, and concedes that they’ll be able to more thoroughly clear up the dust when the tunnel rehab officially kicks off late in April.
The MTA has three different groups of people monitoring the air during the construction, says Robert Conway, the agency’s environmental officer. He noted the levels of dust typically spike Monday mornings between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., right after train service resumes following weekend construction.
George Thurston, a professor at NYU School of Medicine who has studied air quality issues on the subway, said he was concerned about the silica dust in the tunnels because it is “fresh.”
“The freshly generated quartz [silica] particles from grinding operations have sharp edges that can cause lung scarring at high levels,” said Thurston.
He believes standards for the general public should be more stringent than for workers. “Workers are being paid, but the public is not. Also, healthy workers tend to not be an especially susceptible population.”
Conway dismissed Thurston’s claims, noting that the EPA does not have any short-term standards for silica dust because it is not a major issue.
But occupational safety experts say the MTA needs to take more care about what riders are breathing.
“It only takes a very small amount of respirable silica dust to create a health hazard,” said Charlene Obernauer, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. “New York City must also do their part to ensure that L train commuters are not being exposed to this hazard every day when they take the subway.”